Galena's John E. Smith-- Part 4: At Fort Donelson and Shiloh

When the Star of the West was fired upon at Charleston Harbor, Smith went to Springfield to get Governor Richard Yates to do something.  He got a colonel's commission and was apponted aide-de-camp in charge of  Illinois militia.

He got Grant to train Galena's troops which ultimately became part of the 12th Illinois Infantry.  Grant wanted a commission in the regular U.S. Army, not militia and went to Ohio to get it, but McClellan refused him.

Then, Smith introduced Grant to Governor Yates.

Smith received command of the Leadmine Regiment from the Galena area, which became the 45th Illinois Infantry.  Their nickname was the Washburne Leadmine Regiment.  Smith commanded this regiment at Fort Donelson and Shiloh.

Smith was courageous in both actions.  He was in the open at Shiloh and was seen cleaning and filling his pipe and then took a puff while under fire.

The regiment took heavy losses at Shiloh and had to cut their way out.

----Old Secesh

Theophilus Lyle Dickey-- Part 2: Commanded the 4th Illinois Cavalry

In August 1861, the State of Illinois authorized Dickey to raise a company of cavalry which became the nucleus of the 4th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry.

In this process Dickey  and Illinois Governor Richard Yates over commissions of officers.  Both wanted to appoint the officers.  The governor especially liked to have  political patronage of those he would appoint.  In the end, Dickey got to appoint the officers.  (Usually the men in regiments voted on officers.)

Theophilus Dickey became the regiment's commander with the rank of colonel and its organization completed and mustered in September 26, 1861.

He commanded the regiment during Grant's advance on Fort Henry where it served as scouts and screening force and then again led the advance on Fort Donelson.  The regiment was then shipped to Pittsburg Landing where it participated in the Battle of Shiloh.

After the war as assistant attorney general for the United States and often argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.  In 1875, he was elected a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, a position he held until his death in 1885.

--Old Secesh

Ed Bearss On Orvil Grant and Grant the Disciplinarian

Orvil Lynch Grant was a younger brother of General U.S. Grant and was at Galena, Illinois, when Grant was there and later, when Grant was president one of the ones that led to a scandal.

Governor Richard Yates of Illinois was tasked by Lincoln to raise regiments of volunteers.  Grant was a volunteer aide to the governor.  The 21st Illinois Infantry Regiment was regarded as a unit with particularly bad discipline and Grant was given the task of structuring them out.  He marched them from Springfield to Ottawa and then to Hannibal, Missouri.  All this marching made them a little more amenable to discipline.

--Old Secesh

Ed Bearss On Albert Cashier and U.S. Grant's Confederate Connection

Next Mr. Bearss talked about one interesting Union soldier named Albert Cashier, who actually was a woman by the name of Jennie Hodgers.  She was able to keep her sex secret until 1911 when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver and was hospitalized.

Then, it was back to Vicksburg where he said there were more Illinois units participating than any other state.  Their numbers came to about 40,000  (Wikipedia quotes a total of 77,000 men in Grant's army).  The Illinois monument has three medallions on it:  Lincoln is in the center, flanked by Grant and Civil War Governor Yates.

U.S. Grant was a good friend of Confederate General James Longstreet who stood up at Grant's wedding before the war.  When Grant got out of the Army before the war in New York City he was dead broke he borrowed money from future Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner.

--Old SecGrant